Chapter 48 A Dalliance with Darkness
The Weight Of War
“Gods. This is a sight I never wanted to come across again for the rest of my life,” Norman, the former Daxarian king, informed his retired assistant.
Mr. Kevin Howard nodded gravely as he, too, stared out over the camps that had erected themselves over the past few weeks. The bonfires and torches were already lit under the starry sky, illuminating the frosty clouds of their breaths in front of them.
The former king had been enjoying his retirement in Sorlia when he’d heard news of his grandsons going missing.
He had then done what he could to aid search parties by coordinating the joint efforts of the knights from Sorlia, Austice, and Xava, and sending updates to Eric.
Duchess Annika had joined later and added to his concerns by sharing the troubling story of what had transpired in Zinfera with her son, and the concubine.
Mr. Howard had abandoned his own retirement to aid his former employer and friend in these efforts.
When a message had come that the princes had returned home, an unfortunate update followed shortly thereafter that there was about to be a civil war.
Wanting to support his son, the new king, Norman had rushed as quickly as he could, but he was unpleasantly surprised to find that his daughter-in-law and longtime friends the Ashowans seemed to be on the opposite side of the conflict.
“Right. You go speak with Eric, I’ll go speak with Katarina and her parents to hear what is happening,” Norman ordered, gingerly patting his former assistant’s shoulder.
When Mr. Howard raised a quizzical eyebrow and regarded him over the tops of his spectacles, Norman winced. “You get a bit emotional around the Ashowans, Kevin.”
Surprisingly, rather than grumble or mutter about what a nuisance the family could be, the assistant wore a smile. “Not anymore, Monarch. I no longer have to deal with them!” He clapped a hand on Norman’s shoulder as he breezed past him. “Go see His Majesty, your son. Things are different now.”
Norman stared at Mr. Howard’s retreating back; the flat, unenthused look the former king wore went unnoticed.
It wouldn’t have been the first time the man had underestimated the Ashowan skill of annoying the sanity out of him, and he doubted this would be the last.
★ ★ ★
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE ENTIRE CASTLE?” Kevin Howard exploded as the Daxarian queen and Finlay Ashowan casually relayed what Tam had done.
Mr. Howard pinched the bridge of his nose. He had been smiling when he’d first greeted them, but that expression was long gone.
“Right. So now we are just waiting for Tam to bring everyone back, and then we are all going to talk?” the former assistant asked with an audibly forced measure of hope.
“Well, I’d like that, but all the witches at the other camp are out for blood,” Kat retorted.
“And your husband is with the opposing camp?” Mr. Howard pressed.
“He is. The dumbass.”
The former assistant bestowed the queen a very unimpressed look, and then addressed Fin.
“We leave Austice for not even half a year, and this happens?”
Fin said nothing from his seated position. His hands were loosely clasped, his elbows resting on his knees. At the sight of the house witch’s drawn face, Kat watched Mr. Howard’s features still, then shift into a formation of worry. “Can this situation be resolved without an actual fight?”
The house witch shrugged.
“I’ve been sending Eli magic any chance I can to help her recover, and she is most definitely still alive, so I imagine they will come out soon. There isn’t much time,” Kat interjected before turning her golden gaze over the multiple tents.
“Have you tried speaking with His Majesty?” Mr. Howard asked through gritted teeth.
Kat rounded on the former assistant. “Oh no. We’ve just sent each other our best jokes and shared hair braiding tips. Of course we bloody well tried to talk! He’s dead set against Tam’s son staying free.”
“Your Majesty, what compromises have been proposed?” Mr. Howard continued, with forced patience.
Kat’s hands moved to her hips. “I’ve proposed he pull his head from his arse. We aren’t handing Luca off to anyone—and the first witch hasn’t even shown her face yet!”
“What do the witches want to do with the child, exactly?” Mr. Howard looked like he was ready to start shouting again at any given moment.
“Kill him,” Kat bit out darkly.
“They have explicitly said this?”
Kat was just about to open her mouth to tell the assistant he was more than welcome to question her husband and the covens himself when a faint breeze brushed past her hand.
As soon as Kat’s sights dropped, she backed up a step, while Mr. Howard let out a yelp and pressed his hand to his heart.
There sat Tam.
He’d taken up residence in her abandoned chair beside their father.
He looked up at his sister gravely, a three-week beard shadowing his cheeks. “Hi, Kat.”
“Tam!” Fin sat up straight, his eyes wide.
“Da.” Tam nodded at his father.
In a fit of relief-fueled anger, Kat seized the front of Tam’s tunic and hauled him up to his feet.
“You idiot! We’re about to have a war! People are going to die, do you understand that?”
“They won’t. I’m going to go to the coven.”
“Tam—” Fin started at the same moment Kat burst out, “What good will that do?”
“They will take me. Don’t say my name. Just refer to me as the devil. But you have to tell them the devil will only be placed in the hands of the first witch.”
“Yeah. Bit of a problem with that plan,” Kat sounded out, her grip on Tam’s tunic tightening. “As I was just explaining to Mr. Howard here—”
At the mention of the former assistant’s presence, Tam glanced over and bowed his head respectfully. “Good to see you, Mr. Howard. Retirement suits you.”
“Tam,” he returned with a sigh.
Kat gave Tam a shake to bring his attention back to her. “They. Will. Kill. You.”
“I have a plan,” Tam said shortly.
“Right.” Kat’s tongue poked one of her molars. “Given how well your last plan worked, mind sharing this one?”
“I do mind. Let’s not waste time. Go tell your husband the terms.”
“Not happening,” Kat said with a snort before releasing her brother from her grasp.
During this time, their father had come to his feet. “Tam, how is Eli?”
At this, the distance in Tam’s eyes eased and instead a semblance of familiarity returned to their dark depths. “Better. She’s awake and has started walking a little, though she is still weak. The baby is alive and fine as well.”
“Baby?” Mr. Howard interrupted pointedly.
Kat bounced back and forth from her heels to the balls of her feet.
“Ah. Didn’t get to that part yet. Tam’s having his third child with Elisara.
His former assistant. Who also turned out to be the daughter of Marigold and Geun Nam.
And she was also adopted by the Zinferan emperor.
Though she is currently seeking to leave his roster of children.
Oh. And my cat is the new empress of Zinfera. ”
Mr. Howard gaped at Kat, then looked at Fin, who did not deny any of the points.
Then the former assistant turned around. “I should’ve packed wine. What was I thinking? That was foolish. So foolish. Gods…” He wandered a short way off, but he wasn’t entirely out of earshot as he doubled over with his hands on his knees and continued to take deep breaths and mutter to himself.
“He’s handling it better than I thought he would, quite honestly,” Kat announced thoughtfully as she took a moment to watch the poor man attempt to process the chaos.
Fin nodded. “Retirement really has been good for him.”
Tam cleared his throat, drawing everyone’s eyes back to him.
Blinking her distracted thoughts away, Kat felt her stern expression fall back into place. “Tam, what’s the plan? How can we help?”
She watched as her brother regarded her, a flicker of the man she used to know appearing and vanishing behind unreadable eyes once more.
“Can you just trust in the fact that Eli helped with this plan?”
“Not really. I don’t know her. She sounds lovely, and I mean no offense— and I appreciated her bossy moments, but can you please appreciate what I’m risking for you right now, and respect me enough to tell me what’s happening?
Tam, I might lose custody of my boys over this.
So I really, really need you to give us some details. ”
At this, Tam’s shoulders rounded forward and his hands found their way to his pockets. There was a beat of silence, but Kat watched the way the skin around his eyes relaxed a little in concession.
“Eli and I found a way to send the first witch back to the Forest of the Afterlife, but I need to get close to her.”
Kat stared at him pointedly.
Tam shifted his feet.
“Going to need more than that,” Kat said bluntly.
“After she is sent back, we are going to say the devil took over my body, making me act out of character, but the first witch took him back to the Forest of the Afterlife with her.”
“No one—and I am including the idiot Lord Wellington when I say this—no one will buy that shit. Because how do I explain what we’ve done to support you?” Kat argued.
“Pretty sure they will buy it. You can just say it was a targeted attack from the devil on the Ashowan family. But just to be safe? Myself, Eli, Penelope, and Luca are going to go into hiding after this. We’re going to start over somewhere else.”
Kat’s grip on her brother’s tunic tightened. “Oh? Where?”
“Daxaria would be ideal.”
“Mm-hm. Mm-hm. Da? Want to jump in here? At any time?” Kat flicked her eyes over to their father.
He looked a decade older than he had two weeks ago, and there appeared to be a large weight on his shoulders as he listened.
“I think… we all need to sit down and talk. Including with the first witch. Under a white flag. No attacks, no name-calling,” he added with a meaningful look at his daughter. “And talk.”
“Fin.” Mr. Howard approached, once again joining the discussion. “You really have mellowed over the years. I don’t know how I feel about that right now.”
“We can figure that out later,” Fin said with a faint trace of humor in his voice.
Despite his tone, the assistant nodded gratefully.
Kat released her brother. She was still agitated, but a little less outraged at the very least, as they discussed calmer conclusions to their dilemma. “Alright. So, Mr. Howard. You go over and have a quick chat with my husband and tell him about this meeting. We’ll have it take place tomorrow.”
“I’ll return the castle to its original place after the meeting,” Tam added offhandedly.
“Oh? The castle you stole? How kind of you,” Mr. Howard countered drily.
Tam shrugged, unbothered.
Shaking his head, the former assistant turned his toes toward the king’s camp. “Anything else you’d like me to pass along?”
Kat looked to Tam. “How’re my boys?”
The corners of Tam’s mouth lifted. “Good. Asher eats more than three men and keeps scaring Hannah with his spider familiar. I think it’s growing.”
“Yeah… Yeah, that spider is a bit much…” Kat said with a subtle grimace.
Mr. Howard recoiled at the reminder of the young prince’s familiar. Then he closed his eyes and murmured, “I don’t have to deal with this, I don’t have to deal with this, I don’t have to deal with this…”
“Charlie is still having troubles after his time with the coven,” Tam added regretfully.
Kat furrowed her brows. “Regardless of how this settles, I’m beating the snot out of whoever tormented him.”
Tam gave a jerk of his head in agreement. “He seems to really like Luca. Charlie has actually been helping him get into reading more.”
Hearing that at last freed a genuine smile on Kat’s face. “And Penelope? Is she keeping everyone in line?”
Tam tilted his head back and forth. “Somewhat… She stays beside Eli a lot.”
The brief moment of brightened mood was once again snuffed out at the mention of Eli’s state.
“Alright. Please tell His Majesty that our children are well—also please tell him about my intention to issue some justice on Charlie’s behalf—and ask for the meeting. Thank you, Mr. Howard.”
The man gave a halfhearted wave of acknowledgment, then continued to move through the shadowy grass over to where Eric Reyes was most likely still speaking with his own father.
Before Tam or Kat could open their mouths to say another word to each other, Finlay Ashowan proceeded to pull both of his children into an embrace.
Despite this move catching both Tam and Kat off guard, they wrapped their arms around their father.
“We are in this together. We all get into nonsense, and we help one another get out. I’m proud of both of you for doing the best you can to protect people,” Fin told his children quietly. “Things are messy, but together we are going to work this all out.”
The trio took a moment of silence to appreciate the warmth of being together once again.
“I’m…” Tam pulled away. Despite the lack of lighting, Kat’s magic allowed her to easily see the gleam of tears in her brother’s eyes.
“I’m sorry that I assumed you were against me.
That you weren’t supporting me. I… I wasn’t thinking clearly, and I made a decision that has affected all of us terribly.
I’m sorry. Again. I’ll fix this. I love you both. ”
As usual, Kat felt herself squirm at the show of vulnerability from her brother, and so she handled his apology—which she was actually quite pleased to receive—as she normally did.
She slapped his arm firmly and said, “You’ve helped me out of enough sticky situations, we’ll figure this one out, too, just like Da says. ”
After giving his sister an appreciative smile, Tam cast his gaze around the camp of Zinferan soldiers. “Where’s Mum?”
“Ah. I think she’s trying to get a bit of sleep. We’ve all been taking turns keeping watch,” Kat said, displaying the uncommon weariness she felt.
She herself hadn’t slept for a few days. She knew she needed to that night to be better rested for the morning to come…
Her thoughts were interrupted when a loud, screeching cry tore through the night air. All three of their heads snapped round just in time to see a large shadow landing in a span of grass between the two camps.
“Oh… shit.” Kat breathed.
“Is that—” Fin started in awe, only for his son to cut him off.
“A dragon? Yes. That would be Wixim… But I don’t know if he’s an ally now or not. It’s a bit unclear.”
“Tam?” Fin’s voice was faint, and mild.
“Yes, Da?”
“Please go get Kraken. I think we’ll need him for this.”